10 Regrets, 10 Looking Forwards and 10 Thankful For

In the last few days, I have contemplated on things I should have done.  Moments we all have during times when you see where you should have been.  Some would say it's regrets but to spin it differently, some would say lessons learned or some would say the "coulda" moments.  We are all human so don't feel bad if you have 1 or 2 regrets, I can at least name 10.  But not to imply self-pity or self-blame - I have 10 great things to thank for and 10 more things to look forward to.

I could've:

1.  Been a Commander or Colonel by now.  As an Air Force Chaplain Candidate while I was in the seminary in 2001 and stayed on tracked, I estimated that I would have been a senior Chaplain in the Air Force or even in the Navy.  While I was a full time Bethel Seminarian in San Diego, I was accepted as Reserve Chaplain and would be a Captain (or Lieutenant in the Navy) in 2006 and eligible for O4 in 2009 then maybe a Commander or Colonel in the Air Force.  I decided to return to active duty because I can no longer stand being a part time in the Air Force and full time student without any pay.  And so I returned to Active Duty Navy to get an E5 pay and be deployed with friends in Spain. 

I learned that if you don't stay focus in your dream and refocus on immediate need instead of being patient for the long term goal, you may missed a bigger opportunity.

2.  Sold my house in Port Hueneme, California when we moved to Connecticut during the real estate boom in 2005.  The answer is obvious.

3.  Bought a stock in Apple using the profit I earned when I first sold my first house in 2002.  I was playing with stocks when I first earned my real estate income in selling my house in Surfside.  Back then, Apple is not even $50 but now it's almost $8,000.  If I got 20 stocks or $1,000, I could've earned $160,000 profit - easy.

4.  Have more real social skills.  I am a graduate of a hard knocks Dale Carnegie - How To Win Friends and Influence People Institute.